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Night's Watch
The Night's Watch is a military order dedicated to holding the Wall, the immense fortification on the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms, defending the realms of men from what lies beyond the Wall. The order's foundation dates back to the Age of Heroes, at the time when the Others were pushed back. The men of Night's Watch wear only black, and they are known as black brothers. Recruits who join the Watch are said to take the black. Organization Structure The Night's Watch consists of three orders: rangers, builders, and stewards. All are subject to the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, and each of the three orders is led by its own officer, the First Ranger, the First Builder, and the Lord Steward, respectively. These officers are appointed by the Lord Commander. * Rangers: Although all brothers of the Watch stand watch on the Wall, the rangers are the main fighting force, adept at surviving in the wilderness and tasked with scouting and patrolling the haunted forest beyond the Wall. They actively defend the Wall and ride out to face the Watch's enemies, including the lawless wildlings as well as the mysterious, inhuman Others. One blast of a sentry's horn represents returning brothers, while two blasts are used for wildlings and three blasts for Others. * Builders: The builders are responsible for maintaining the Wall, the castles, and the equipment. They provide masons, carpenters, miners, and woodsmen. * Stewards: The stewards are the largest of the three orders. The stewards are responsible for an assortment of critical functions, providing vital day-to-day services. They hunt and farm, tend horses, gather firewood, cook meals, make clothing, maintain weapons, and conduct trade with the south, bringing back to the Wall all of the supplies needed by the Night's Watch. Like other members of the Watch, the stewards must be ready to fight at a moment's notice, and all have received at least basic combat training. Among the stewards, those with skill in sums or reading or writing might be given specialized tasks as well. Few enough are literate, but the Watch has a purpose for every man. Stewards also serve as attendants and squires for the high officers of the Watch, such as the Lord Commander. In short, the administration of the Night's Watch is in the hands of the stewards. Leadership The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is the final authority and oversees the entire order. Any man of the Night's Watch can be nominated to be the Lord Commander. A Lord Commander serves in office until the day he dies, when a new Lord Commander is elected by the men of the Watch. The majority of the officers and leadership of the Watch are pulled from the upper crust of Westerosi society. A noble or knighted man is almost guaranteed a position as an officer in the Watch, but there are several powerful and influential brothers that are of common blood as well, such as the senior rangers Qhorin Halfhand, Blane, and Cotter Pyke, commander of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and a bastard-born pirate. The Watch, as a meritocracy, is one of the few places in feudal Westeros where a common man can rise high and even gain command over knights and lords, rising as far as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Recruitment Once, serving on the Wall was honor and a sign of selfless devotion to duty, with many knights, honorable men, and nobles taking the black voluntarily. The Night's Watch is now often seen only as a way to avoid punishment, suitable less for knights than for the dregs of Westeros. These men are salvaged from dungeons by traveling recruiters known as wandering crows. Disgraced nobles, bastards, and even the unwanted legitimate offspring of nobles are “encouraged” to take the black, making many of today’s Watch a surly and dissatisfied lot. Those who come voluntarily are free to leave during any time of their training, but no man may leave after he has said vows. Any deserters are sentenced to death. After taking the vows, the men of the Watch cannot own any land, marry, or father children. Men are also encouraged to sever any ties left with their families, if they are lucky enough to have one. Men of the Night's Watch are garbed all in black, a tradition that earned them the nickname "crows," particularly among the wildlings, who often call them "black crows." While some use this name derogatorily, many in the Night's Watch have adopted the term for their own use. They are also called "the black brothers," and in song they have been called the "black knights of the Wall." Vows When the recruits are considered ready to take the black, they say their vows either in a sept or before a heart tree. The vows are as follows: It is customary to finish a black brother's eulogy with the words, "And now his watch is ended." Military Strength During the time of Aegon's Landing, the Watch had ten thousand men. By 298 AC, the Watch has dwindled to less than a thousand men, and the quality of recruits has declined as well. Possessions Castles of the Night's Watch The Night's Watch raised nineteen castles to guard the hundred leagues of the Wall, although they have never manned more than seventeen at one time. Today only few of them are maintained by an ever dwindling force. The castles themselves are closer to garrisons, composed mostly of barracks, stables, storehouses, towers and out-buildings, as they have no walls of their own (other than the Wall itself). They were purposefully built this way so the Watch could man only the Wall itself and focus on threats from the north. The Night's Watch feared no attack from the south because of their vow not to take part in the wars of the Seven Kingdoms. Due to manpower shortages, the Watch only mans the Shadow Tower, Castle Black, and Eastwatch. Patrols between the castles used to be more regular, but as the manpower of the Night's Watch diminished, so did the number of patrols. Now the Watch uses mules to ride atop the Wall, as the paths have not been graveled between the older castles in many years. The mules are bred at Eastwatch and are specially trained for their duties. Night's Watch Castles The castles are listed from west to east. Notable Castles * Castle Black, the largest maintained castle, located at the northern end of Kingsroad held by nearly six hundred brothers. * The Shadow Tower, most western outpost of the Watch, garrisoned by two hundred men. * Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, port of the Night's Watch with the smallest standing garrison. * The Nightfort, the oldest and largest castle of the Night's Watch. It houses the Black Gate, a secret way through the Wall sealed by a magical ancient door fashioned from weirwood, which only opens to a sworn brother of the Night's Watch. * Deep Lake, built seven miles east of the Nightfort and meant to replace it. It was paid for by Good Queen Alysanne Targaryen. * Queensgate, originally called Snowgate, it was renamed after Good Queen Alysanne slept there for one night during her visit to the Wall. The Gift and the New Gift The Gift is a tract of land measuring twenty-five leagues southward from the Wall that the Night's Watch received from King Brandon Stark of the North. For years the Watch farmed the Gift, but as their numbers dwindled there were fewer hands to plow the fields, tend the bees and plant the orchards, so the wild reclaimed much of the area. Wishing to restore the Night's Watch and reward its loyal service in defense of the realm, Queen Alysanne Targaryen, wife of King Jaehaerys the Conciliator, doubled the extent of the Gift. Towns and villages that were located within the "New Gift" supported the Night's Watch with their taxes, rendered by goods and labor. In time, the New Gift lost population as people moved south, into the mountains or into the Umber lands east of the Kingsroad to avoid wildling raids, further reducing the support structure for the Night's Watch and the Wall. The nearest point of civilization to Castle Black is Mole's Town, a subterranean settlement whose brothel is frequently patronized by brothers of the Night's Watch. Ships The Night's Watch employs a small fleet at Eastwatch. Known Night's Watch ships include the Blackbird, the Storm Crow, and the Talon. History The Long Night The Night's Watch is one of the oldest orders in the Seven Kingdoms, as it survived the fall of the kingdoms of the First Men, the Andal invasion, and the War of Conquest. It was founded over 8,000 years ago, at the end of the Long Night. Under cover of an endless night that lasted for a generation, the Others invaded from the Lands of Always Winter, laying waste to much of Westeros, until the Others were finally defeated by the Night's Watch at the Battle for the Dawn. After having pushed back the threat, the Wall was allegedly built by Bran the Builder in order to protect the Seven Kingdoms, should the Others ever return. During the Age of Heroes it was also recorded that the children of the forest gave the Night's Watch a hundred obsidian daggers every year. Other than the corrupting of the thirteenth Lord Commander, the "Night's King," further attacks by the Others never came, however. Instead, the most frequent attacks came from the wildlings, sometimes led by their Kings-Beyond-the-Wall, and their constant attempts at raiding in the north. Hundred Kingdoms The Night's Watch built nineteen castles along the hundred leagues of the Wall. At the zenith of its power, the Watch had seventeen of the castles manned, with over ten thousand men-at-arms between them. Castle Black alone quartered five thousand fighting men with all their horses, servants, and equipment. The highborn of the north have traditionally considered it an honor to serve on the Wall. Many younger sons of northern houses, low in the line of succession, gladly took the black. Shields of nobles from the Hundred Kingdoms of Westeros were proudly displayed in the Shieldhall at Castle Black. Little by little, the Night's Watch forgot that its main mission was not the fight against the wildlings, but against the Others. Iron Throne The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros were invaded by the Targaryens during the War of Conquest. Although Lord Commander Hoare was the brother of King Harren the Black, the lord commander maintained the neutrality of the ten thousand black brothers under his command, even when Harren died during the burning of Harrenhal. King Aegon I Targaryen became Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and ruled from the Iron Throne in King's Landing. The manpower of the Night's Watch has decreased more and more, with most of Westeros neglecting the Wall. Only the north, particularly the Starks, have the memory of the old days, but even they believe the Others are no more than vague figures in stories told to frighten children. The Starks resented King Jaehaerys I Targaryen granting the New Gift to the Watch. The black brothers arrived late at Long Lake, where the King-Beyond-the-Wall Raymun Redbeard was defeated by the Starks and Umbers. By 297 AC during the reign of King Robert I Baratheon, only three castles remain in use—Castle Black, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and the Shadow Tower—and the Night's Watch's numbers have dwindled to fewer than a thousand men. The Night's Watch is now largely made up of the misfits of the Seven Kingdoms: peasants, debtors, poachers, rapers, thieves, and bastards. Only a few of the noble and knightly houses south of the Neck have members in the Night's Watch, and most serve because they fell afoul of political machinations or fought on the wrong side of a war. However, there have been fewer wars since the War of Conquest. Current Members